(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell after Iran said that it received “some sign” that the US was willing to end its blockade, opening the path for talks between the nations.

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Brent declined as much as 2% to near $97 a barrel after adding almost 9% in the previous two sessions, while West Texas Intermediate was around $88.

“As soon as they break this blockade,I think that the next round of the negotiations will take place in Islamabad,” Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news cited the country’s envoy to the United Nations, Amir-Saeid Iravani, as telling reporters. “If they want to sit on table and discuss and find a political solution they will find us ready.”

Donald Trump on Tuesday extended a ceasefire with Iran, even as peace talks faltered and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz kept flows locked up. The American president said that the US would hold off on fresh attacks but keep blocking ships linked to the Islamic Republic until “discussions are concluded, one way or the other.”

Trump later said in a post on Truth Social that if the US lifted its blockade to open the Strait of Hormuz, “there can never be a Deal with Iran, unless we blow up the rest of their Country, their leaders included!”

Oil has been whipsawed by developments in the Persian Gulf and the near-halt of shipping through Hormuz, a vital artery that normally carries about one‑fifth of global crude flows. Volatility has soared to its highest since 2020, when the Covid pandemic sapped demand.

“Headlines are coming at 100 miles an hour, but the barrels are still stuck in neutral,” said Rebecca Babin, a senior energy trader at CIBC Private Wealth Group. “The back-and-forth around a ceasefire extension, potential blockade, and Iran’s role is keeping markets on edge, but the reality is flows remain constrained.”

Iran won’t reopen the strait as long as the US Navy continues to intercept ships and will, if necessary, break the blockade by force, Tasnim reported earlier, citing sources. The US on Tuesday said it stopped and boarded a sanctioned oil tanker, after seizing a cargo ship over the weekend, and has turned around a total of 28 vessels.

At least two fully laden Iranian tankers have sailed out of the Persian Gulf and past a US blockade this week, part of a flotilla that has made its way around the warships and ferried roughly 9 million barrels of oil to the market.